Schneider Electric to deliver energy management capability with Cisco
September 2011, Enterprise Solutions, News, Risk Management

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure active energy management architecture portfolio offers a single point of access that connects five domains of business expertise – power, data centres, process and machines, building control, and physical security – all within an open and flexible technology framework. The EcoStruxure architecture integrates with Cisco EnergyWise embedded on the Cisco network infrastructure to provide a holistic building management solution, managing all energy-consuming building assets, such as HVAC, lighting, security and, for the first time, reduce energy waste generated from IT/IP assets, including PCs, phones, catalyst switches, Power-over- Ethernet (PoE) endpoint devices and other IT devices.

With rising energy costs in buildings accounting for 42% of energy usage worldwide, there is an impetus to find ways of reducing energy consumption with these IP/IT devices within buildings and across the network.

“Looking for innovative ways to increase energy efficiency and enable business performance within buildings is what Schneider Electric does every day with thousands of customers worldwide,” says Chris Curtis, president and CEO, Buildings Business, Schneider Electric. “Combining Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure architecture and Cisco EnergyWise provides organisations with the capability to go one step further and manage the energy consumption of IT/IP devices and PCs in the building management system domain for the first time. We are very excited about this opportunity and what our joint innovation will mean for reducing energy consumption in buildings across the globe.”

In addition, the new combined solution enables organisations to:

* Monitor, report and manage energy usage across the entire corporate network or real estate infrastructure.

* Create a more energy-efficient architecture for the IP/IT domain outside of the data centre.

* Better control where and how energy is being used to more intelligently and efficiently respond to smart grid signals.

* Realise a new source of energy savings to fulfil corporate sustainability requirements, free up capital resources and quickly improve an organisation’s overall bottom line.

Schneider Electric and Cisco have worked together for more than a decade and provide organisations with the tools to help reduce energy consumption up to 30% by taking advantage of the network as a platform for energy management. This relationship has extended from collaborations of unified communications in the data centre and network closets to video surveillance and IP security. This expanded relationship further extends Schneider Electric's established global leadership in energy management with Cisco's industry leading IT energy management solution delivered via its Catalyst switch platforms to provide sustainable energy reduction, workforce efficiencies and overall improved business performance.

For more information contact Pierre Lintzer, APC by Schneider Electric, +27 (0)11 557 6600, pierre.lintzer@apcc.com

Further reading:

• Keeping cash safe
  May 2013, Technews Publishing, Risk Management
  Biometrics, interlocks, cash degradation systems, time delay lockers and safes, remote opening, better physical armouring protection, tracking, CCTV, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), DNA sprinklers and smoke cloaks are all technologies that have played a large role in the reduction in cash-in-transit incidents.
  
• Local is lekker the world over
  May 2013, Technews Publishing, News
  Despite facing many problems, South African manufacturers of security products manage to produce goods that are not only successfully deployed in the country, but also throughout Africa and the developed world. Hi-Tech Security Solutions spoke to four successful local manufacturers.
  
• Local manufacturing by the numbers
  May 2013, News
  Hedley Davidson unpacks the realities of local manufacturing by the numbers, having been locally designing and manufacturing electronic access control since 1989. This article focuses on his belief that South African companies have the necessary ingredients to bring internationally competitive products to market.
  
• If you build a BMS, will they install?
  May 2013, Technews Publishing, Enterprise Solutions
  After many years and unhappy customers, most BMS systems today are open and support a variety of communications protocols. With this in hand, we should expect to see more vendors extending their BMS systems into the cloud.
  
• Consulting services for BMS
  May 2013, Enterprise Solutions
  Be it high-rise office buildings, libraries, hospitals and clinics, financial institutions or shopping centres, each of these commercial properties requires an unique approach to ensure that peculiar security challenges, threats and vulnerabilities are managed in such a way to contribute toward effective property management.
  
• Getting the most out of security consultants
  April 2013, Risk Management
  How can a vendor-neutral consultant help its customers to negotiate the costly minefield of security technology installations and upgrades?
  
• Securing large commercial facilities
  April 2013, Technews Publishing, Enterprise Solutions
  How do large commercial facilities secure their premises without hindering the passage of legitimate visitors and employees? What role do the technological and human elements play in the equation?
  
• Holistic approach to commercial security
  April 2013, Centurion Systems, Enterprise Solutions
  Crime is not homogenous by nature. Like all unwholesome things, it has the uncanny and unnerving ability to threaten on multiple levels and in multiple ways; from internal crime – such as fraud and theft ...
  
• The neural network wakes
  April 2013, Johnson Controls, Enterprise Solutions
  One of the latest trends in major commercial buildings – especially among those of multinational corporations – is the convergence of the security function and other vital building systems onto a single ...
  
• Security adds value
  April 2013, Enterprise Solutions
  Location, location, location – touted as one of the most important factors when buying a property and particularly when investing in a commercial property that you hope to make money from. However, ...
  
• Effective integrated security solutions
  March 2013, Sukema Integrated Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, Government and Parastatal (Industry)
  Government organisations need assistance in managing their varied disciplines through the use of technology, software solutions, measurable management of service providers and staff, and proper beneficial integration of the three pillars, namely 'people, process and technology'.
  
• Business risks in 2013
  March 2013, Continuity SA, Risk Management
  "The risks we all face as we go into 2013 are much more complex, and thus much more difficult to counter,” says Michael Davies, CEO of ContinuitySA, Africa’s leading provider of business continuity services.